A recurring problem plaguing software systems is change. Software development typically proceeds with a certain set of requirements and specifications. Although programmers attempt to anticipate likely changes, it is impossible to accurately predict the future. Inevitably, changes in the outside world alter the requirements and specifications, rendering the software obsolete or useless.
A particularly challenging area is the healthcare industry. Modern healthcare legislation can specify protocols for communicating information within the healthcare industry. For example, Title II (Administrative Simplification provisions) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996, requires the establishment of national standards for electronic healthcare transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. After Jul. 1, 2005, most medical providers that file electronically were required to file their electronic claims using the HIPAA standards to be paid.
On Jan. 1, 2012, the newest version of HIPAA, version 5010, becomes effective, replacing version 4010. Among various changes, HIPAA 5010 allows for the larger field size of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), for medical coding and reporting in the United States. The ICD-10-CM is a morbidity classification for classifying diagnoses and reasons for visits in healthcare settings. The ICD-10-CM is based on the ICD-10, the statistical classification of disease published by the World Health Organization (WHO), which replaces ICD-9.
Inevitably, there will be further changes to HIPAA and similar legislation in the future.